"Its a good thing cats always land on their feet..?" Yang said to Blake, trying to lighten the mood. Apparently, everyone had failed to realize having Yang carry a blanket with a living person in it with only one arm in dragon form was a bad idea. A bad idea which resulted in Blake nearly meeting an untimely demise. Luckily, Yang was smart enough to dart after her as soon as she had dropped her, but still. Weiss could almost see the aura of irritation oozing out of Blake, as she folded her arms and sat facing away from Yang on a log. Yang looked like an abandoned puppy.
Ruby and Weiss's trip had gone better. But it was pretty jostly in the blanket sack. And Weiss didn't even want to think about what would happen if Ruby used her rose petal speed boost with the blanket.
Weiss saw Ruby thinking hard, humming to herself as she wracked her brains. "Hmmmm... So blankets won't work... What else was there again?"
Weiss thought. Did this mean they were going to walk? Whoever was following her would for SURE nab her if they did that. There were still two people they didn't know the identities of. Uhg. Weiss hated having to think of herself as a kidnappable damsel in distress. That was one of the things she'd run away from back at the castle.. What other way was there?
"Could we steal a horse and cart or something?" Yang glanced back at Ruby and Weiss, taking a break from trying to talk to Blake for a moment.
"We are NOT stealing a cart. Ruby's already got wanted posters of herself plastered around town, we don't need to add the rest of us up there." Weiss grumbled
Yang's head tilted in a sharp twitch "Wait, wanted posters? Since when?" Yang noticed that despite Ruby's surprised face, Blake seemed indifferent. "You knew too? Communication people! That is the foundation of a good relationship with friends!"
"Oh says the one who didn't tell her girlfriend she knew about her fanus secret for a year!" Weiss snapped back.
"...I have wanted posters? What did I do?" Ruby spoke up curiously.
Weiss huffed, remembering the incident. "Uh, well, remember when you saved me? Claws, slicing a guy, yeah so apparently his friend lived and told a tale about being 'attacked in an alley'. Left out the part where he almost killed me, it seems."
"Ah..." Ruby and Yang nodded in understanding.
Weiss went back to the topic before and turned to Yang. "Have you stolen a cart before? You sounded awfully confident when mentioning it.."
Yang whistled softly to herself and avoided eye contact. Blake let out a small snort as she tried to keep from laughing. Yang turned back to Blake, to resume her half pandering/half apology.
"Now that I think about it.." Ruby wondered out loud. "Killing people really IS a bad thing, isn't it?"
Weiss barely stopped herself from replying sarcastically. Oof, Yang was rubbing off on her.. "..yes. It is. but, in cases where there's no other option, even the guard force can be lenient someone who's killed another." Weiss put a hand on Ruby's head and rubbed it softly. "You're still a good person. Good, good dragon. Girl? Good girl? Uh.." Weiss was having trouble with the proper terminology.
Ruby leaned herself against Weiss happily. "Person is fine when I'm like this! Don't wanna let out the secret!" Ruby nodded to herself.
"Oh! I've got it!" Yang put one of her hands into a fist and rested it in her other hand. Ruby and Weiss looked over, and Blake's bow twitched. "Lets use a makeshift saddle! Not, like a super well done crafty one. But I bet if we tie enough blankets and leather or whatever together we can get something stronger than ropes that would break against our scales! I mean the main reason it's a bad idea to ride a dragon is because its easy to fall and scales can be sharp if you sit on them long enough. A saddle fixes that!"
That was,,, actually a pretty good idea. Ropes were to likely to break when rubbing against dragon scales, but if it was a whole mess of leather and cloth... That just might work!
"Nice, you do have a brain that works." Blake half complemented half insulted her. Yang grumbled at the insult for a second but took it with grace, while Blake turned and faced them to rejoin the group. "It might be better to just make one. Maybe for Yang. She's bigger, so if we go on her we could fit three people." After Blake finished, Yang took a seat on the log beside her, having quelled the faunus anger.
"And if anyone fell, Ruby could use her speed boost to catch them." Weiss continued. Huh. Why hadn't they thought of this before? Just make a saddle! Of course, they'd need to drag a suspiciously large amount of leather into the forest to do so, but, still! This was a grand idea!
...why was their first idea to literally just have everyone be carried in blanket sacks? Shouldn't the idea of animal travel naturally bring you to 'saddle'? Weiss looked at her group. 2 dragons, with less then four years of human life experience combined. A bounty hunter that would most likely just hide on merchant carts and travel on foot to avoid detection. And Weiss herself, a sheltered princess who had only been outside the castle when she'd managed to sneak out once in a blue moon.
Oh god, none of us have any common sense... Weiss thought to herself woefully. Uhg. No matter! They had a good plan now, and would stick to it. Stealing was wrong, but... Maybe Weiss would turn a blind eye just for a little and let Yang and Blake figure out how to acquire large amounts of leather quickly... Yeah. That's fine.
Hm. Maybe while Yang and Blake used suspicious methods to gather leather, Weiss could get Ruby something more proper to wear. Would Ruby be alright staying at the inn alone? Maybe if Weiss just traded cloaks with her..
"Ruby, switch cloaks." Weiss said as she stood up, taking hers off.
"Ehh? But I like red..!" Ruby pouted, hugging the fabric of her cloak close.
"The wanted poster shows you in a red cloak. If you wear a white one for a while, we might be able to avoid detection until we leave." Weiss held out her white cloak to Ruby.
Ruby grumbled a bit but followed Weiss's instruction. Yang glanced over as Ruby switched cloaks, and quickly turned her head away to try and hold back a laugh. "How, how the hell did you manage THAT?" She said through snickers.
Weiss didn't even want to look at how much more destroyed Ruby's temporary dress had gotten. Yangs commentary was enough to realize how dire the situation was.
"So while me and Yang are stea– ...collecting leather, you'll take Ruby clothes shopping?" Blake said.
Weiss pretended she hadn't heard that first thing Blake had almost said. "Yes. And maybe we should head back now, so we don't have to make a mad dash like last time."
Yang jumped to her feet. "Oh crap yeah! ...lets get on that!"
"For the last time, NO." Weiss told a saddened Ruby. Having made it back to the city with time to spare, and cloaks traded, Weiss had taken Ruby to a clothes store. Just a little place where they could buy better dress for Ruby. And no matter how much Ruby asked, Weiss was NOT going to buy the stuffed albino squirrel figure! It seemed the place they were in doubled in taxidermy.
"But it looks so much like youuu!" Ruby whined.
"Thats exactly why no! You'll end up killing Yang with a laughing fit if she sees you holding that thing!"
"Heh, she would, wouldn't she?" Ruby snickered.
In Weiss's head, she had a motif, a style, that was given to herself. Whites, pastel colors, and royal blues. Those were what was acceptable in the palace, and old habits die hard. She snuck in red wherever she could, but still. If she had to devise something like that for Ruby to help pick her out a proper outfit... Darker colors, blacks and reds, maroon maybe? Something like that. She paced around the store, dragging Ruby along.
As she moved, something caught her eye. The most adorable little black and red styled dress, in what looked to be just Ruby's size. She brought it to the counter immediately.
The shopkeeper took her money and gave her the dress, but as he did he struck up some light conversation. "So, your names Weiss huh?" Weiss nearly froze at those words. "Like the princess of atlas." HHHHHHHHHH "Heard that white hooded lass calin' your name about various taxidermy animals every five seconds for the past half hour."
"...Yes. Named, after her. The princess." Weiss almost held her breath.
The man shook his head. "Seems the princess ain't doin so well."
"Oh?" This caught Weiss's interest. Wasn't doing so well? Had no one realized she was gone?
"You didn't hear it from me, but.. Apparently she's deathly ill. Can't even leave her room, the poor thing." He sighed. "Royalty are all smucks, but at least let a lass have husband before she dies. So young to leave the world alone."
Weiss thanked him, and pulled Ruby away from the various life-like stuffed animals she was eyeing hungrily. The shopkeeper waved goodbye, but his wave stopped when Ruby waved back. His eyes squinted for a moment, but Ruby and Weiss left.
Weiss was overwhelmed. No one knew she was gone? Weiss had asked Klein to tell the castle staff that she'd gotten sick, but, she'd only expected that to last for a few days before they found out the truth... Had no one really gone and checked? ...not even Winter? Weiss would have expected such negligence from her father, but, surely Winter would have gone to check on her? And her brother Whitly would have gone up to make fun of her because she couldn't leave her room?
But no one had. No one knew she was gone.
Maybe, Klein was just being a really good actor. Told them that she had some super contagious sickness. Yeah. That must have been it. It had to be. Weiss didn't matter so little that her disappearance from the castle had no affect at all, right?
"Where are we going?" Rubys voice brought Weiss back to reality.
"Huh?" Weiss blinked.
"We're passing the inn now. Are we not going inside?" Ruby tilted her head.
"Uh. Yeah. Yeah sorry. got distracted." Weiss waved a hand dismissively, and turned to walk back towards the inn they'd almost passed.
Yang and Blake still seemed to be out, so Ruby and Weiss just returned to their room. Ruby tried on her new dress. "I like it! Its flowey! And a little shorter then the other one, now it won't get tangled on my legs!" Ruby beamed.
Ahh, just looking at Ruby's smiling face could melt all Weiss's troubles away. Well, not permanently, but for a good hour or so at least. Ruby was about to join Weiss in the bed, when their room door burst open. "HOUSEKEEPING!" An Exited Nora screamed. "Oh good! You're here!"
Ruby dove under the bed at the doors opening, and Weiss's heart nearly stopped. "...don't, DO that!" Weiss managed to choke out, clutching her chest to catch her breath. Ruby's silver eyes peeked out from under the bed.
"Sorry sorry! I didn't think you'd be here! I mean, you weren't yesterday, I had to find you in the forest then! Oh! About that!" Nora's smile faltered. "You're leaving soon?"
Weiss averted her eyes. "Yeah.. We have to, it wasn't just Ren following me–"
"Once again I apologize at that failed attempt of first contact." Nora butted in.
"Its fine. But like I said, there are... 2 more people kind of following me. Well, 3, but that one's harmless." Weiss pushed any thoughts of Henry out of her mind.
Nora cocked her head. "Really? That would explain the huge footprints I keep seeing around. No one that works here has such big feet."
"I saw those too!" Weiss rubbed her head in frustration at the resurfacing memory. "Uhg, at the castle they always told me to buzz off and leave any problems to the guards, so I still have a habit of subconsciously ignoring clear signs of danger! How am I even supposed to stop doing that? It was drilled into my head for years!"
Nora blinked. "Castle?" Ah– Weiss shouldn't have said that. "You rich or something? But left home unannounced?" Weiss pursed her lips and looked away. Silence hung over the room before Nora piped up again. "Hey its alright! You're a great person, despite being formerly rich!" Weiss still didn't speak. "Ah, different topic. So. Uh remember how we kind of wanted to use you as bait..? To catch a dragon trapper..? Can we do that now? Like, right now? Are you busy? Since you're leaving and all. Also, if you have time tomorrow do you want to hang out again? Depending on which way you go we might not see you again for a while."
Uh.. "I'm, not busy at the moment.." Weiss finally spoke.
Nora smiled. "Great! Take my hand!" Nora took Weiss's hand in hers and strode off, pulling her along.
Weiss looked back at the room, and saw the pair of silver eyes silently watching her leave. Weiss tried to make a one handed motion for Ruby to 'stay put' but she wasn't sure if she got the message clearly. And so Nora pulled Weiss out into the sunset, to do god knows what to attract some dragon hunting serial killer. Greeeaaaaate...